I’ve been seriously into wine for over two decades, but only writing about it for less than two years. Blogging is a great way of expressing your passion, whatever it is, and can be thoroughly rewarding.
The hardest part is starting, but then it’s important to get a bit of momentum. I think these three fairly self-evident rules are the A-B-C of improving the quality of your writing.
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Unless you’re a natural born writer, reading other writers’ output can help improve your own for several reasons:
Firstly, just seeing how other people use words can inspire you to use language better, how to express what you’re saying succinctly and eloquently. We’re not going for the Pulitzer or Booker Prizes, but it can make your writing more readable.
Secondly, even if you’re knowledgeable about the subject matter, it won’t hurt to read others’ viewpoints, and the chances are that you will learn plenty. Speaking just about wine, the more you learn the more you realise you don’t know…
And finally, for now, you can see what works in terms of structure, layout, titles, images, labelling – all the fiddly bits that take a while to get used to, even on easy to use blog packages such as WordPress. They aren’t part of your writing per se, but they are part of communication, which is what it’s all about.
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Practice makes perfect, so they say, but even if in reality perfection is unobtainable, nothing makes writing better and easier than doing it.
It often takes a while to find a writing style or “voice” that you’re comfortable with, but just keep going. In some ways it’s like speaking in public, with all the guidance in the world you need to keep doing it to put tips and tricks into practice.
If you’ve got a dozen posts under your belt, then take the time to have a rest and re-evaluate what you’ve written.
Edit
Some people can just start writing there and then, and end up saying exactly what they want in the way they wanted to say it. I admire these rare beasts, but I am not among their number.
If your spelling and grammar aren’t great this is a must. Even if your readers don’t judge you when you use poor grammar, as the meme goes, it can distract them from the content of your blog.
If there’s any factual content, then asking the google to check it can help to stop you from looking silly.
If you can get someone else to read what you’ve done, even better, as a second pair of eyes is always useful.
So for me, it’s much better to get as much down as possible, even if it’s stream-of consciousness stuff, then come back to edit it later.
And if your subject happens to be wine, and you’re “investigating” a particular topic, then it wouldn’t hurt to follow Ernest Hemingway’s maxim:
For a long time I was almost purely a red wine drinker. Then, due for inconvenient minor health reasons I had to give up red wine, so I became solely a white wine drinker. That led me to putting some serious “research” into white wine, so now although I drink red again, over 70% of my cellar is white.
But what about rosé? It’s neither fish nor fowl, neither red nor white – why does it even exist?
It’s the duck-billed platypus of wine!
It doesn’t have the freshness of white or the pleasing body of red – it falls between two stools and does neither thing well.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that it’s the fastest growing wine category in France, so if you venture into a French supermarket you will see more pink than white – what gives?
This isn’t a rant about pink things for the sake of it – I’m quite metrosexual in my dress sense and will happily wear pink shirts and / or ties.
And then the solution finally dawned on me. If it’s any good, treat a rosé like a light red and chill it very slightly, but drink it out of proper red wine glasses. That’s what I did with this delicious Masi rosato.
Rosa del Masi
I do keep harping on about the temperature of wine, but it’s so important for acidity, sweetness, aromas and flavours.
It turns out I’ve been drinking rosé wrong all this time!
Originally in Belfast, Mourne Seafood Bar also has venues in Dundrum (the other Dundrum, not the one in south Dublin) and at Grand Canal Dock close to the Liffey. Considering the size, importance and location of Dublin there are very few seafood restaurants here, so this is a welcome addition.
Mourne also has an excellent wine list, with plenty of red wines which might surprise some. My review will concentrate on the liquids and then my friend Jayne will give an account of her visit.
A Wino’s View
Mourne Seafood Bar interior, looking over Grand Canal Dock
I’m not very adventurous when it comes to seafood – fish and chips will do me just fine most of the time. As it happens Mourne do the best fish and chips that I’ve tasted in any restaurant in Dublin, and the portions are fantastic, so I tend to stick to what I know and like.
On a recent visit I did venture slightly off piste and tried the Chowder (excellent) and the Moules Provençales (excellent and filling). If you like seafood you owe it to yourself to give it a try.
So now I will move onto some of the wines I’ve tried and loved:
Sartarelli Verdicchio Spumante, Marche, Italy
Sartarelli Verdicchio Spumante Brut NV
In the April edition of TheTaste.ie I reviewed the still Verdicchio from this producer as it was poured at the Ely BIG Tasting in March, and it was a winner. By happenstance the still wine was only there by accident, it was this Spumante which was supposed to be shown.
Not to miss out I tried it at Mourne and was very impressed. It’s a proper wine, with plenty of zippy acidity and citrus flavour to serve as an aperitif, with seafood (makes sense!) or on its own.
La Piuma “Terre di Chieti” Pecorino, Marche, Italy
La Piuma “Terre di Chieti” Pecorino, Marche
As a renowned cheese hater I was obviously wary of something with “Pecorino” on the label, but the beauty of wines-by-the-glass means you don’t have to take a chance on a whole bottle. There’s flowers, soft stone fruit and racy acidity, plus a little more texture and interest than you get from everyday Italian whites.
I would be interested to see how this ages. Take the plunge and try this wine!
Soalheiro “Allo”Alvarinho & Loureiro, Vinho Regional Minho, Portugal
Quinta de Soalheiro Vinho Regional Minho Allo
To be clear: this is nothing to do with Michelle from the Resistance, Réné or the Fallen Madonna with the…erm…you know whats.
This is a delicious white wine from the Vinho Verde area of northern Portugal, close to the border with Galicia. The main difference from the Vinho Verde DOC and Minho VR is that the latter may contain non indigenous grapes – often Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon.
This bottle is a blend of two local varieties, Alvarinho (better known as Albariño in Rias Baixas and Loureiro, and for my palate it knocks spots off many more expensive wines. This does well with seafood but has enough fruity characters to be quaffed on its own.
The same crowd do a fantastic sparkling Alvarinho which I reviewed here
Domaine Octavie, Sauvignon Blanc, Touraine, France
Domaine Octavie Sauvignon de Touraine
Touraine is a reliable, easy-drinking and food-friendly wine from the area around the city of Tours in the Loire Valley. It comes in red, rosé and white versions and can be made from a dozen permitted grapes. Helpfully, those made from Sauvignon Blanc usually display it on the front label, still quite unusual for French wines.
Although reliable, Sauvignon de Touraine can be a bit sharp and acidic at times. This, however, has a depth of flavour rarely encountered in the area – it could easily pass for a more expensive neighbour from Sancerre. It’s possibly the best Touraine I’ve ever tasted.
Verdict
Taste The Sea
Food 8/10
Wine 8/10
Service 8/10
Given my lack of adventure with seafood, I was delighted when my Twitter friend Jayne agreed to contribute to this post after she had visited Mourne earlier in the year!
A Foodie’s View
Jayne loves shoes…and wine….and seafood!
Well, well, well. On a rugby weekend to Dublin I had the most fantastic find of Mourne Seafood. Set by the waterside, the setting was almost as perfect as the food. Being a self confessed seafood and wine junkie, Mourne Seafood did not disappoint! The only challenge was what to choose from the delights on offer.
Pil Pil Prawns
Starting with the Pil Pil prawns with smoked paprika, chilli and garlic, they tasted as good as they looked and warmed me up as it sleeted outside.
Irish Scallops Linguine
After washing it down with a fresh Sauvignon Blanc, I enjoyed the delectable seared Irish scallops linguine. Cooked to perfection.
I could see all the diners thoroughly enjoying the food and atmosphere as I left to watch Ireland unashamedly beat England. If you’re looking for a meal for 2 or group get together Mourne Seafood is a great choice.
Until fairly recently I was very happy with Marlborough Groovies.
But then thanks to some excellent tastings in Dublin I began to realise that, although New Zealand GVs are very nice, they are only analogous to the simpler style of those from Austria. Outside of those, there’s a whole world of flavours and textures to try – see here.
And now, I’ve changed my mind again!
This is why:
Nautilus Estate Marlborough Grüner Veltliner 2011
Nautilus Estate Marlborough Grüner Veltliner 2011
I’m a big fan of Nautilus Wines, especially their lovely fizz and gorgeous Chardonnay (one of the best in New Zealand in my opinion). It’s great that they’ve planted other aromatic grapes as Marlborough’s dry and cool, long growing season is perfect for them.
Normally this style of Grüner is one that is supposedly best drunk young – which is pretty much true for Marlborough Sauvignons. Alongside citrus and stone fruit and a dash of white pepper, there’s loads of freshness which makes them a joy to drink. But once the freshness is gone, you can’t get it back – there’s no Shake n’ Vac solution here.
But this wine was inadvertently left till four years after vintage, and yes a little of the freshness had gone, but it was replaced by some lovely toasty notes – just like you would expect from a good Aussie Semillon.
It’s a delicious wine, I just wish I’d held on to my other bottles for longer!
It just goes to show: most wine is drunk far too young!
Please ponder that message and put a few “ordinary” bottles aside to try in a few years.
For Throwback Thursday I thought I’d reblog this piece from last year which was quite popular, and it’s the kind of lighter wines that many of us are opening now we’re into Spring
Twice a year the Ely Winebar and Restaurant Group hold consumer tastings at their larger venue in Dublin’s IFSC. Over a dozen of their wine suppliers show a selection of their wines, both currently listed and not listed, so that consumers get a chance to try new things and their feedback might lead to new listings!
The tastings are very well organised by Ely Group Wine Manager Ian Brosnan and Head of Biz Dev Jeri Mahon – thanks to both them and all the other staff supporting the event.
Here are a few of the wines which really stood out for me:
1. Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve NV (Liberty Wine) {by the glass at Ely Place and Ely CHQ}
Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve
Perhaps it was the occasion, the perfect serving temperature or perhaps just a little extra time in bottle since I tried this last year, but Charles was tasting fantastic. The fruit is lovely and there’s some light biscotti notes from ageing on the lees. Perfectly balanced and poised, this is a definite candidate for the best non-vintage Champagne on the market.
2. San Lorenzo Verdicchio dei Castelli de Jesi Superiore ‘Vigna delle Oche’ Marche 2012 (GrapeCircus at Sheridan’s) {by the glass at Ely Place and Ely CHQ}
San Lorenzo Verdicchio dei Castelli de Jesi Superiore ‘Vigna delle Oche’ 2012
San Lorenzo is a well-established family producer now run by Natalino Crognaletti – something of a madman/eccentric/genius* (delete as appropriate) who is not only organic, not only biodynamic, but also believes in being self-sufficient. This means that he follows a minimal intervention path of wine making, with much more work required in the vineyard, but even goes so far as to keep chickens so he has his own eggs for fining the wines before bottling!! (This helps remove any big particles and can be an alternative to filtration which can strip out the flavours.
So what’s the result in the glass? Loads and loads of flavour! There’s minerality, citrus and soft stone fruit – and oodles of texture, which would make it a great food wine. You need to give this a try to taste something off the beaten path.
3. Domaine des Baumard Savennières “Clos de St Yves” 2010 (Tyrrell & Co)
Domaine des Baumard Savennières “Clos St Yves”
This wine sparked such a positive reaction that I was moved to note the highly articulate comment: “Toast toast toast – frickin awesome!”
Chenin Blanc is one of the world’s most under-rated grapes, and the Loire Valley is perhaps France’s most under-appreciated wine producing areas. Having said that, I don’t often fancy the drier versions, but adore the sweeter ones, all of them having a trademark streak of acidity through the middle.
This example really hit the spot! It has already started to take on more interesting flavours but hasn’t lost its freshness. Tasted blind this would fool plenty into thinking it was a posh white Burgundy.
The producer likes his wines to be as clean as possible so uses no oak barrels and seals bottles with screwcaps rather than corks – thumbs up from me.
4. Paddy Borthwick Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc 2014 (Wines Direct) {by the glass at Ely CHQ}
Paddy Borthwick Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc 2014
The third word there is the wine region of Wairarapa in the south of New Zealand’s North Island, not to be confused with Waipara which is north of Cantebury on the South Island. It’s an area more well-known for its Pinot Noir, particularly in the main subregion of Martinborough (again, not to be confused with Marlborough), but it is also home to some excellent aromatic whites.
Rather than gooseberry, asparagus and grapefruit which are stereotypical Marlborough Savvy flavours, Sauvignon from here is often even more tropical. This lovely example from Paddy Borthwick had passion fruit notes jumping out of the glass – in fact it reminded me of the passion fruit Mojito that my wife had at Cleaver East on Mother’s Day!
5. Sipp Mack Alsace Grand Cru Rosacker Riesling 2009 (Mitchell & Son) {by the glass at Ely CHQ}
Sipp Mack Alsace Grand Cru Rosacker Riesling 2009
I could happily have spent the evening just smelling this amazing wine (but then I’d have missed out on so much else!) Sipp Mack is one of the top echelon of Alsace producers and a personal favourite of mine, especially their Grand Cru Riesling and Pinot Gris bottles. There’s a touch of sweetness which acts as a counterpoint to the zippy acidity and mineral freshness.
This is drinking gorgeously now but, if you could keep your hands off it, will be even more amazing in five years’ time.
This is Unreconstructed, All-original, Can’t be bettered, Aussie Chardonnay!
The past decade has seen Australian Chardonnay move back from big, alcoholic fruit bombs to more subtle, mineral and food-friendly styles. Mclaren Vale’s D’Arenburg hasn’t really followed that trend, which wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who knows of the current boss Chester Osbourne – his shirts are so loud they can be seen from space and he released a wine called Fuckeliana (yes, really!)
In fairness this is actually made the other side of Adelaide from their base, up in the Adelaide Hills which is the source of Shaw + Smith’s M3 Chardonnay. It’s big but doesn’t have that buttery, especially melted butter, taste of some Chardonnays.
Yesterday I had my first experience judging wines in a competition – hurrah!
But not ordinary wines, no. These were a small number of wines entered into the (Irish) National Homebrew Club’s third annual competition, so home made wines. I had expected they would be kit wines, perhaps with an odd tweak here and there, but no…
They were fruit wines! The so-called “country wine” category…but nothing ventured, nothing gained! There is vitis vinifera grape wine made in Ireland, though it’s produced in very small quantities and isn’t the finest you might have tried – though it’s definitely drinkable – see here. The competition had but three entrants in the wines category compared to hundreds of beers of all types.
It was a very interesting experience, and on reflection I’ve jotted down a few thoughts. Please excuse me if they are bleedin’ obvious!
1) Judging isn’t the same as tasting
When you’re tasting, especially if it’s just for your own interest, you can pick and choose which wines you taste and which of those you bother writing tasting notes for. If you’re judging you have to taste, consider and write up every wine properly.
2) Judging and tasting are easier with reference points
In the big wine competitions wines are usually tasted in flights of a similar type and / or origin, so wines can be compared to their peers. I’ve never tasted a dandelion wine before…should I expect to taste parsnips? Particularly with a very small number of entrants to the wines part of this competition, there was no agreed standard of quality to judge against.
3) Amateur-made drinks are not the same as commercial products.
Here I mean amateur in the best sense of the word – they are lovers of what they do, though unpaid. Do you judge them by what is available on the shelf in your local wine merchants? Or do you compare them to the less successful producers who don’t even make it that far?
It’s a difficult one to answer. Guidance was offered by the head judge and organiser, in that scores shouldn’t be too generous – people need to know what to work on. But then again, we didn’t want to scare off potential entrants.
And…when a wine is obviously faulty, it’s FAULTY!
Here are the results:
Silver Medal Winner
Blackberry
Bronze Medal Winner
Rose Hip
See the full list of medal winners in each category here!
Yet another INXS reference, and yet another link to an article on The Taste – but I make no apologies, and expect more in the future!
Please click through to read the full article here.
So, dear reader, do you have a preference for either Old or New world? Please leave a comment, I would be interested to hear.
Personally, I probably drink wine outside of mealtimes more often than with food, so this perhaps has a bearing on what I like to drink. But then I really love good Riesling, even when the producer says it’s “difficile à aimer” (difficult to love) on its own as it’s crying out for food.
The reasons why we like the wines we do need a great deal more research – though Tim Hanni MW has made a good start.
“Old world new world / I know nothing / But I’ll keep listening” – INXS
This clip is from a 1983 concert performance – when Michael Hutchence still thought he was the second coming of Mick Jagger – but before they became internationally famous.
The track itself is from their third studio album Shabooh Shoobah (1982), which also features “Don’t Change” and “The One Thing”
Have you ever wondered why white wine varies in colour?
Some are almost water white, while others can be lemon though to golden amber. Surely there must be somelogic to this?
Of course there is, but there are lots of inter-related factors which affect the colour of white wines. Let’s have a look at them one by one. Hold on to your hats, this might get a bit geeky by the end…
1. Oak
Oak Tree (credit: DannyBoy7783)
More specifically maturation in new(er) small(er) oak barrels adds colour. Certain types of wine are more likely to be barrel aged – Californian Chardonnays, for example – so much so, in fact, that you can see the difference before your nose gets anywhere near the glass.
The sweeter a wine is, the darker it will generally be. If you take a dessert wine (such as Hungary’s famous Tokaji) which comes in varying levels of sweetness, the depth of colour is a good guide to the level of residual sugar.
In fact, even on the basis of a mobile phone snap on twitter, I’ve had people make a good guess as to the number of Puttonyos* of a Tokaji – totes amazeballs, as the kids say nowadays.
(* putts for short, refers to the number of buckets of sweet grape paste added to a vat of fermenting wine)
3. Age
Age
As a general truism, red wine gets paler with age and white wines get darker. An illustration: the unique red and white wines of Chateau Musar in Lebanon move closer and closer in appearance as they mature in bottle. Even Champagne goes golden when mature.
If you’ve got a bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that looks quite golden though a clear glass bottle, the chances are that it is past its best…
4. Grape
Gewurztraminer
This factor is the one that most people would guess at. Some white grapes have a slightly darker juice than others which affects what you see in your glass. Good examples of this from my favoured region of Alsace are Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris.
The Spanish region of Rueda is known for its excellent yet inexpensive whites made from the fairly clear Verdejo grape, but wines of the same vintage do vary in hue. This is down to a certain proportion of Viura in the blend, a permitted grape in Rueda and Rioja plus Catalonia under the name Macabeo. So there you go!
5. Oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is both the friend and the enemy of all wine, red, white and all the diverse colours in-between.
a) Oxidised– when exposed to too much oxygen white wines go darker in hue quite quickly. When it happens this can be known as premature oxidation, or premox for short, and has spoiled many a white Burgundy lover’s treasures.
b) Oxidative – this descriptor is used when a wine is deliberately exposed to oxygen, for example with traditional white Rioja. This style of wine will generally be darker than one in a non-oxidative style.
6. Skin contact
Orange Wine
The biggest fundamental difference between red and white wines is not the colour of the juice when grapes are pressed – with some exceptions, the juice is normally clear. The difference in colour is down to the time that the juice for red wines has in contact with the skins so that colour, flavour and tannin is leached out.
A very short time gives a rosé, an extended period can give an opaque, dense looking wine.
If you use the red wine approach with white grapes you get….orange wine! This is actually a very ancient method of wine making that has become trendy again. It’s arguable that, rather than being a darker type of white wine, orange is actually its own class of wine by itself.
7. Bâtonnage
Bâton (the ones for stirring wine look a little different)
This is a fancy French term for stirring with a stick (which sounds somewhat less glamourous). After fermentation some styles of white wine are left to stand on their lees, i.e. the spent yeast cells which have turned sugar into alcohol. It is particularly useful in Burgundy where it gives a certain creaminess to Chardonnay.
Wines made with lees contact tend to be markedly paler than those fermented in stainless steel and then transferred to cask for barrel maturation because darker pigments are absorbed by the lees.
8. Acidity
Acid
White wine colour is also affected by the wine’s levels of pH and the amount of acid (usually given as the equivalent in grams of tartaric acid for the chemists out there). Very simply, more acidity leads to paler white wines.
9. Filtration
charcoal
As part of the modern winemaking process, wines are usually filtered before bottling to remove any tiny particles which might give them a cloudy appearance. It depends on the substance used, but some such as charcoal will lighten a wine as tiny coloured particles (as well as some of the flavour) are removed.
10. Sulphur
Sulphur
Sulphur occurs naturally in wine, which is why pretty much every bottle in the shop has the caution “Contains Sulphites”. Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) is added as a preservative agent at different parts of the wine-making process, and in different amounts. There is a growing movements among artisan and “Natural” winemakers to reduce or even eliminate these additions.
Particularly in tandem with a low pH (i.e. high acidity), high SO2 concentration has a bleaching effect and removes colour from wine.
Of course, it’s difficult to see the effect in isolation as those producers who don’t add sulphur are often the same ones who allow skin contact…
Conclusion
Of course, these factors don’t act in isolation, and it might be several of them in concert which apply to a particular wine. For example, a traditional white Rioja is likely to be made from Viura, barrel matured and made in an oxidative style. Add a few years in the cellar then you will have quite an amber wine.
It’s not possible to point to any of these factors individually, but we can have a damned good guess!
Some parts of Central Otago look like another world – wild doesn’t even start to cover it. Now vying with Martinborough as the best place for Pinot Noir in New Zealand, there’s an amazing variety of landscapes – some more resembling moonscapes in the former gold-mining areas.
It’s rugged, but beautifully rugged, even on an overcast day.
But it’s not just about Pinot – other varieties do well in the cooler climate down here as well. Chardonnay is an obvious one (Felton Road for example) and so is Riesling. I think it’s fair to say that New Zealand is still finding its feet with Riesling, but there are some increasingly complex, balanced and just plain delicious wines being made.
Peregrine Winery
Peregrine Central Otago Riesling 2010
With excellent acidity, this tastes nigh on dry – the 5 g/l of Residual Sugar adds body and balance without being obviously sweet. It’s a fabulously versatile wine, great on its own on with anything from seafood to Thai. At almost five years of age there are secondary aroma and flavours starting to develop along side the lemon and lime of its youth.
Peregrine Riesling
Alcohol is 13.0% which gives you a hint that it’s no featherweight, but has enough body and oomph to really stand up for itself. This is the type of wine I’d like to buy a case of and drink gradually over the years.
Stockists: not yet available in Ireland, but should have a RRP of €27 – €29
